The New Neighbors
by ghost509
Summary: With the next door neighbors, the Finkleys, on vacation, the Loud family need to show around and entertain the family that's house sitting. What adventures will the Loud family have with the new family? And why is Lucy's heart beating so quickly when she's around their kid?
1. Introduction

**(Barely have any knowledge of the show, but that hasn't stopped me before!** **Everyone is eight years older. But in this story Lincoln is 18. Hope ye enjoy)**

* * *

 **(Royal Woods, Michigan. The Loud House. Saturday, 12 in the afternoon.)**

It was rather quiet in the Loud House. Lori was out spending time with Bobby, Lynn was working on her pitch in the backyard, Luan was watching videos about comedy in her room, Luna was strumming her guitar, Leni was painting her nails, Lucy was in the vents working on her poetry, Lana was upstairs fixing the sink(for the 10th time that week), Lola was having a tea party with her toys, Lisa was in her room studying the effects of radiation on livings things, while also fixing a cure for said experiments, and Lincoln was in the living room, relishing at how quiet the house was.

"Funny, I usually like how loud the house is." Lincoln sighed happily, stretching as he laid on the couch. "But it's nice to have a change of pace I guess." He closed his eyes, attempting to fall asleep. Until-

"Family meeting!" His eyes snapped opened as his parents, Lynn Sr. and Rita yelled from upstairs. He sighed, before sitting back up.

"Well, it was nice while it lasted." As he finished saying that, the house started shaking. Soon his sisters stampeded into the living room, taking their spots on the couch and tried fitting. Someone(more than likely Lynn) started shoving against him, trying to knock him off to make room.

It gave him a good chance to really see what had changed...and it was next to nothing. Sure everyone had grown a bit taller, and a few of their bodies started changing, but other than that, everyone was the same.

"Ok, ok, everyone settle down." Lynn Sr. ordered as he and Rita walked into the room. "Now, as you all know our next door neighbors, the Finkleys, are currently out of town on vacation."

"Kinda hard to forget when you cry yourself to sleep every night with them gone." Luna deadpanned.

 _(Flashback) (Wednesday: 11 pm)_

 _Luna was walking from the kitchen and back to her room, after grabbing a midnight snack, when she heard sobbing from her parents room. Walking up to their door, she knocked a few times before opening._

 _Inside, her mother was sleeping on her stomach as Lynn Sr. laid on his side, crying._

 _"Dad? Are you okay?"_

 _"I-I'm fine honey. Daddy's fine." He sniffed, sitting up and placing the framed picture onto his nightstand. In its position, she noticed it was of him, Rita, and the Finkleys smiling._

 **(Present)**

"I miss them so much." Lynn Sr. croaked out, a tear threatening to fall from his right eye. Rita rolled her eyes and continued.

"What your father is trying to say, is that John and Carly decided to invite some of their family down here to housesit. They asked us to show them around and make sure they have a good time."

"We will not fail them!" Lynn Sr. shouted passionately, startling the family.

"Dear, calm down." Rita ordered. "But your fathers right. In these last few years, John and Carly have always been there for us when we needed them. So I want you all on your best behaviors. Got it?"

"Got it." The children replied simultaneously.

"What about Lori? Does she know about this?" Lincoln asked.

"We told her this morning before she left with Bobby." Lynn Sr. informed.

"Ok, well now that that's out of the way, we would like one of you to keep watch and to come get us when they get here. That way we can invite them over, introduce ourselves, and explain to them what John and Carly asked of us." Rita stated. "Now, who'll take watch?"

When no one spoke up, Lincoln sighed.

"Why must I be the responsible one?" He asked, breaking the forth wall. "I'll do it."

"Thank you Lincoln. The rest of you can carry on with what you were doing." With that Lynn Sr. and Rita walked back up the stairs and to their room, leaving the kids alone.

"Think they'll bring their kid?" Lana asked.

"Ya know, if they have one." Lola added.

"Maybe they'll bring a daughter! *Gasp* Maybe she'll love fashion like me!" Leni exclaimed.

"Or sports, like me." Lynn Jr. replied.

"Or comedy!"

"Or music!"

"Well, statistically speaking the kid, or kids, they may bring will be more interested in music than fashion, sports, or comedy." Lisa informed, causing Luna to pump her fist into the air. "But are none of you considering the possibility that they may bring a son instead of a daughter?"

"That'd be awesome! Finally, another guy to hang out with." Lincoln said happily, before realizing his sisters were giving him death glares. "Not to say hanging out with you all isn't awesome! I _love_ hanging out with you all!"

"Guess we'll have to wait and see." Lucy sighed, scaring her siblings. They all forgot she was present.


	2. New Neighbors

**(5 hours later.)**

The once blue sky was slowly changing to a brilliant hue of orange as the sun slowly started to descend. Lincoln was still in the living room, re-reading one of his favorite Ace Savvy comics while sitting on the couch. Every now and then he would turn to look outside, watching for the new temporary neighbors.

His parents were basically running themselves ragged tidying up the house and outside, trying to make the place as spotless as possible. Unfortunately Cliff kept running around, coughing up hairballs in every spot they had just cleaned. Which resulted in the parents chasing Cliff, trying to catch him and lock him up so he would stop making messes.

"Do you guys need any help?" Lincoln asked.

"No we're fine! Just keep an eye out for the neighbors!" Lynn Sr shouted, diving in hopes of catching the cat. Cliff merely jumped up, avoiding Lynn and causing him to faceplant into the wall. Cliff snickered, before running away as Rita charged him with a broom.

Lincoln shrugged and turned his attention back outside. His attention was caught as a red minivan slowly drove down the street, a man was driving while a woman was in the passenger seat, a black and brown dog was in the seat behind the man, watching as each house passed. They came to a stop in front of the Finkleys house, where they spoke to each other for about a minute before pulling into the driveway. They got out, and the man opened the backdoor to grab the dog. They walked up to the front door, unlocked in, and stepped in.

Lincoln got a pretty good look at them. The man was six feet at least, fairly heavyset, tanned skin, blue eyes, short gray hair and a gray beard. The woman wore glasses, brown eyes, had short brown hair that reached the back of her neck, and pale skin. She was shortter, 5'8 maybe? The man wore a plain red shirt, black shorts, and a pair of red and gray Jordan's. The woman wore a red tanktop, black shirts, and a pair of pink and white Nike's.

"Mom! Dad! The housesitting neighbors are here!" Lincoln shouted. Lynn and Rita stopped trying to catch Cliff and froze, fear evident in their houses.

"They're here. They're here! Nobody panic!" Lynn Sr shouted, before Rita slapped his cheek. "Thank you dear."

"You're welcome, now lets go invite them over. Lincoln, get all of your sisters into the backyard. We have chairs placed so everyone has a place to sit." Rita ordered, before she and Lynn fixed their hair and clothes. They walked out the door and towards the house.

"Ok, time to do my part."

"Everyone's already outside." Lucy informed, popping out of seemingly nowhere and scaring Lincoln for a third time that day(he'd rather not relive the first time).

"Lucy! Can you _stop_ doing that?!"

"Doing what?" She questioned, before walking towards the back. Lincoln sighed and followed.

 **(With the house sitters)**

"Wow, this house looks better than John's description." The man commented, setting the dog down onto the wooden floor. The dog dashed off, sniffing just about everything it could in order to familiarize itself with the new surroundings.

"You can say that again. The pictures Carly took didn't do this place justice." The woman added, maping out the house.

To the right was a large dining room, equipped with a large, rectangular wooded table with six chairs. Past it was the kitchen, which the two would inspect later and see if they needed to go out to buy anything.

To the left was the living, which was also rather large with light brown carpet. A dark brown, suede couch took up one wall, with a similar loveseat angled next to it. To the right of the couch was a similar recliner. A glass, rectangular table was in front of the couch, with 2 stacks of 10 circular coasters on it. Across from all of this was a large, flat screen TV, sitting atop of a large, black TV stand. Past it was a closed door, which they assumed lead to the basement.

As soon as you step through the front door, a wooden staircase went up, giving access to the second floor where the bedrooms were. John and Carly's room(where they would be sleeping), two guest rooms, and a bathroom.

A knocking at the door drew their attention. They gave eachother a questioning look, before he went to answer it.

"Must be the neighbors John and Carly told us about." The woman commented. The man nodded as he reached for the doorknob.

 _"Is my hair ok?"_ He heard a man ask. He grabbed the doorknob and opened.

"Your hair looks fine dear." A woman sighed, just as he opened the door. The visitors turned their attention from eachother and to him, before smiling.

"Hi! My name is Rita, and this is my husband Lynn. We're your neighbors." Rita informed.

"Rita and Lynn? As in, Rita and Lynn Loud?" He asked, receiving nods. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you. Name's Brian." He smiled, reaching out to shake both of their hands.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you. My name's Helen." The woman came from behind the man, smiling just as big as he was. She shook their hands as well.

"How did you know our last names?" Rita questioned.

"John and Carly told us about you. Said if we needed any help to come to you." Brian informed.

"They also said you would be showing us around, so we don't get lost and such." Helen laughed.

"T-They talk about us?" Lynn asked.

"Of course! They say you're amazing neighbors." Helen stated. Lynn started tearing up and had to look away.

"Is he ok?" Brian questioned, watching as Lynn sobbed silently out of joy.

"Yeeeeah, he's fine. Gets a little emotional."

"Don't we all?" Helen laughed, as did Brian and Rita. Lynn continued to sob.

"So, what brings you two over here?"

"Oh, well we wanted to invite you over and introduce you to our family."

"Oh, how nice. We'd love to meet your family." Helen smiled.

"Yeah, just give us, mmm, five minutes? Haven't been to a rest area in hours." Brian informed.

"Oh no problem. We'll be right here waiting." Rita stated.

"Thank you." Helen said as Brian closed the door. Just in time to, because the dog had came from god knows where and started jumping at the door, barking at the two new people.

"Will you calm down?" Rita asked as Lynn continued to sob.

"They-they talk about us Rita! They talk nicely about us!"

"Yeah, but Helen and Brian won't if you keep acting like a baby. Just calm down and stop crying." At the mention of John and Carly finding out he was crying, Lynn straightend up, wiping his tears.

"You're right."

"When aren't I?"

"Well..."

 **(Seven minutes later)**

"Oh, we never did get your last name." Lynn realized as he and Rita lead Helen and Brian to the backyard.

"Oh, right. It's Minton." Helen informed.

"Ok...So, who's related to John, or Carly?"

"Carly's my sister. She married John about 29 years ago." Helen stated.

"Yeah, that's why their taking a vacation. It's their 30th anniversary in a few days." Brian added.

"That reminds me, I should text them and wish them a happy anniversary." Rita stated as she and Lynn got to the gate. "Oh, and sorry to say that you won't be able to meet our oldest yet. She's out right now with her boyfriend."

"Oh, well that's too bad. But I'm sure we'll meet her eventually."

Rita unlcoked the gate and opened the door, before moving to the side so Lynn, Helen, and Brian could get through. They did, and Rita came in from behind, locking the gate.

They continued to walk until they got to the back, and the two were expecting for them to gasp at how many kids. But instead, they merely smiled.

"Wow, that's a lot of kids." Brian commented."

"You're not shocked? Or surprised?" Lynn asked.

"A little. But I grew up with six other siblings, and Brian grew up with four."

"Plus with our boys, its like we're living with 20 kids." He and Helen laughed.

"Oh, good to know."

"But having-" Brian took a second to count. "-11 kids? How do you two do it?"

"Willpower." They answered simultaneously.

"Uh babe, I'm only seeing 10."

"Their oldest isn't here."

"Oh."

"Well, lets not keep them waiting. Follow me." Rita stated, walking towards kids, who quieted down when they noticed their parents and neighbors walking towards them.

"Kids, these are our new neighbors until John and Carly come back from vacation. This is Helen, and her husband, Brian." Lynn Sr informed. The kids let out their respective forms of hello, as the four parents sat down.

"Helen, Brian, these are our kids. Leni, our second oldest, followed by Luna, Luan, Lynn Jr, Lincoln, Lucy, Lana and Lola, Lisa, and finally, Lily. Lori, our oldest, isn't here. But you two already knew that." Rita stated.

"It's nice to meet all of you." Helen smiled.

"It's nice to meet you to ma'am." Lincoln said, smiling.

"So, tell us about yourselves. Like, where did you two come from?" Lynn Sr questioned.

"Well we were born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. We lived there for, hmm, 44-ish years, before moving to West Virginia." Helen informed.

"We moved there so Helen could live closer to her parents, and so our youngest could get away from all the drama." Brian.

"How many kids do you have?" Lynn Jr asked.

"Three, all boys. The two oldest, Brian Jr and Jason are back in West Virginia. We were able to convince our youngest to come with us."

"Which wasn't difficult. He had two conditions: we bring his dog, and his video games." Helen laughed.

"Dog? What type of dog?" Lola asked.

"She's a beagle-hound named Max."

"Max?" Lana questioned.

"Well, my husband here and our two older sons were a bit confused when we got her. When we finally found out her gender, she had already gotten used to Max. And our youngest refused to name her Maxine." Helen informed.

"You said your youngest came with you? How old is he?" Luna spoke up.

"18." Brian said, before a phone started to ring. They each reached into their pockets and pulled their phones out. Helen smiled, before she showed it to her husband.

"Speak of the devil." She said, before answering. "Hi honey."

*Grumble*

"Oh, we're not at the house. We're at the next door neighbors house, you know, the ones John and Carly told us about."

*Grumble*

"No, you can't wait in the car until we're finished. Why don't you come over and socialize?" Helen asked. "Besides, there are a few girls here. Some are around your age _and_ cute!" She whispered. Brian heard this and chuckled.

*Grumble*

"Yes, we'll get you a pizza tonight if you come over." Helen sighed.

*Grumble*

"Ok, love you honey. See you soon." With that she hanged up. "He's coming over right now-"

"I'm here! And the gate's locked!" A new voice shouted. Luna noted it had a hint of a British accent, and she hoped that it wasn't her imagination.

"I'll go unlock the gate for him." Brian said, getting ready to get up.

"No need sir." Lola smiled. "Cliff!" Lola shouted, causing everyone to wince. A black cat came running out of the doggy door, and straight to Lola. "Go unlock the gate for the boy standing there."

Cliff nodded, before dashing off to the side of the house.

"Oh hi kitty-*Gasp*! The cat's unlocking the gate for me!" The voice exclaimed excitedly.

Lucy sighed to herself. Why did this have to take so long? She could be in the vents, working on some poetry. But no, she was out here, socializing with new people that would be here for what? One, maybe two weeks? What was the point of getting attatched to and getting to know someone if they'd be gone in about seven or so days?

"Mom! Dad! Do you know how awesome this cat is?! It jumped off the side of the house, did a flip, and used its tail like a whip to unlock the gate!" The boy exclaimed, walking into the backyard with Cliff in his arms, cradling him as if he were a baby. The cat didn't seem to mind though, in fact he looked rather happy.

The boy was about 6'1, with pale skin, brown eyes, and brown hair like his mother. His hair was short, fairly close to that of a buzzcut. He wore black basketball shorts(which intrigued Lynn), gray and black Skechers, and a black t-shirt, which had a purple crow on it.

The thoughts leaned more towards one than anyother: he was cute. In fact the only ones who thought he wasn't were the twins, Lisa, Lily, and Lincoln, obviously. Lincoln was happy because he finally had another boy to hang out with(plus they each loved video games, which was a nice addition), and Lisa was happy because now she had a new guinea pig. One however didn't have a thought, just a blank mind.

Lucy couldn't keep her eyes off of him, and was rather thankful her hair covered her eyes. She didn't know why she liked looking at him, or know why she continued doing so. She felt her cheeks start burning, and her heart began to best faster than normal(her version of normal, mind you).

"Everyone, this is our youngest son. Kevin."

"Howdy." He smiled, throwing a two finger salute.


	3. Allergies? Or Something More?

**(Hours later. 10:30 pm)**

Lincoln, in his underwear, was getting ready for bed. He was going to sleep earlier than usual because he would have to wakeup early.

You see, after Kevin showed up(and got barraged with questions from his sisters, and a few from him), his parents decided they would take Kevin's parents out to show them the town. Kevin declined to go, opting to just stay home and chill, and said he would walk around town on his own. But his parents convinced him(threatened to take away his video games i.e) to walk around with one of the Loud children. Lincoln was the first, and quickest, to offer. So they made a plan to meet up at nine in the morning.

But, lets get back to the questions. The second he sat down the kids started asking him his interests. Interests, likes, dislikes, that type of thing.

While he wasn't big on fashion, he did have an eye for it. He loved music, his favorite kinds being Rock N Roll, Rap, and Heavy Metal. He loved pranks and jokes, he even cracked a few puns with Luan(that had everyone sighing/groaning in annoyance). He wasn't big on sports, but did enjoy bowling, tennis, and volleyball, and enjoyed watching football, basketball, and baseball. He loved all kinds of video games, especially the classic FPS, and his least were fighting. He hated getting dirty, but would if needed. English/creative writing were his favorite classes, with science and history close, close behind, and math being his least. He couldn't draw, but enjoyed it(Lily even asked him if she could sketch him, which he agreed to at a later date).

What was most surprising was that Lucy had actually asked him some questions. He preferred night over day, loved the cold, enjoyed sitting in the dark, and loved, _loved_ writing. Whether it was a story or poem, writing was his passion. In fact he had gotten a poem published, with another one being published in a few months. He loved animals, and thought bats were cool. He talked about owning a bat one day, his parents however shot the idea down almost immediatly.

Anyway, Lincoln walked up to and locked his door, unaware of the presence behind him.

"Lincoln."

Lincoln jumped and screamed. He turned around, and noticed Lucy sitting on his bed, one leg crossed over the other.

"Lucy! _Stop_ doing that!"

"Doing what?"

"You know the-crawling through-scaring-gah! Never mind." He sighed.

"I need you help." She stated, standing up.

"Isn't it a little late needing to find a word for death? Oh! Macbeath."

"No, nothing like that. I've been feeling weird, and need you to tell me what I have."

"...You know, you have two parents and 10 other siblings. All of whom are better equipped in dealing with...lady problems."

"No, it's not that. Trust me." She reassured, causing him to sigh. "Besides, you've seen how the others have acted to your papercut, myself included. Just think what they'll do when they find out I feel weird." He shuddered at the thought.

"Ok, fine, and good point. What's wrong?"

"I've been feeling weird since this afternoon."

"Before, during, or after the neighbors came over?"

"During."

"Ok. What have you been feeling?"

"My body was warm, cheeks were hot, and my heart was beating faster than normal... _my_ normal."

Lincoln couldn't help but to crack a small smile.

"Uh huh. Did it happen when you were near someone...or _looking_ at someone?"

"Looking."

"Who were you looking at?"

"Kevin...why are you smiling?"

"Lucy, I think it's pretty obvious why you were feeling this way."

"Am I allergic to him?"

"No. I think you have a crush on him!" He exclamied with a smile. She just stood there, void of emotion and movement...but that wasn't a surprise.

"Are you sure I'm not just allergic to him?" She asked, surprising him.

"Lucy, aren't you happy? You're finally growing up!"

"What's the point?" She shrugged. "He's here for what, a week or two? No point in getting attatched. Besides, How could or why would anyone like me?"

"Lucy's always been critical about herself." Lincoln states, informing you, the reader. "Ever since she was small she was always bullied. It's a reason why she doesn't like getting attatched to people. Well, _one_ of the reasons."

"Lucy! How can you say that? Who knows, maybe he _does_ like you. You two have a lot in common."

"So did Lynn and her ex. Look how that ended up."

"Lynns ex was a scumbag. Kevin seems nice, why don't you give him a chance?"

"...I don't Lincoln, it could be an act."

"How about this? I'm showing him around town tomorrow. I'll talk to him and see if it's an act, and to see his others interests. If you, for whatever reason, are in the same area and you catch him saying nice things, you start hanging out with him." He offered, and implied. "Maybe you could show him some of your 'special' places around town. He might like them!"

"...Sigh. Fine, lets see who he truly is. And if I like what I hear and see, I'll start spending time with him."

"Awesome! Now uh, could you leave? Kinda in my undies right now." He blushed, embarrassed. She nodded and crawled backthrough the vents, leaving Lincoln alone. He crawled under his blanket and started drifting off to sleep, until a thought made his eyes shoot wide open. "Lucy likes someone!"

Lincoln sat up, feeling nervous. Lucy _liked_ someone! Someone that was _alive_! She hardly knew anything about love or dating, and whatever she did know came from old plays like Romeo and Juliet! What if he took advantage of her lack of knowledge...what if he-

Lincoln shook his head and grunted. No! Kevin seemed nice, and there's no way he'd do something like that...But Justin seemed nice too, and he tried cheating on Lynn with Luna!...But Lucy _was_ smart. She was probably capable of telling what was right and what was wrong.

"It's ok Lincoln, it's ok. Study Kevin and see if Lucy's right about him just acting like a nice guy. That shouldn't be difficult...right?"


	4. Backstories and Bowling

**(Next Day)**

The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and people were getting up to leave for work, while some were coming back from work. The Loud House was quiet, aside from the guitar playing in the living room, and-

"AHHHH! I woke up late!"

Of course, Lincoln screaming as hopped around his room, trying to use one hand to get his pants on, while the other dealt with his shirt. It was 10 am, an hour after Lincoln agreed to meet up with Kevin to show him around Royal Woods.

"Shirt? Check! Pants? Double check!" Putting on his shoes, which he accidentaly put the wrong shoe on the wrong foot three times, he opened the door and ran down the stairs.

"You're playing great Luna!" He yelled, unlocking the front door.

"It's not me dude!" She exclaimed. But he didn't pay attention, he just ran out the door and to Kevin's house. Both the minivan and Vanzilla were gone, which meant his and Kevin's parents had already left.

"Kevin! Kevin I'm here! Sorry, I slept in!" Lincoln shouted, pounding on the door and ringing the doorbell. A barking was heard, and Lincoln watched as a small, black and brown dog ran to the door. She jumped up and scratched at it, barking. "Max! Go get Kevin! Please?"

Max kept barking and whining, spinning in circles and jumping at the door. Lincoln sighed.

"Hey dude! You lookin' for Kevin?" Luna shouted, stepping out of the door.

"Yeah! Have you seen him?" He asked, before reallization hit. "Luna, who's playing your guitar?"

"Who do you think?" She smiled, before heading back inside. Lincoln ran back and walked into the living room. He watched as Kevin sat in the middle of the couch, playing a familiar guitar solo.

"Kevin? When did you get here?"

"Shhh, he's in the zone." Luna shushed. "He's been here since 9:10 am. Got tired of waiting and wanted to see what was taking you so long. I let him in, we got to talking, next thing I know, we're trying to one up each other." She grinned when the solo got quieter and quieter, until he was finished.

"How was that?"

"It was awesome love!" Luna exclaimed, causing Kevin to chuckle. "Where'd you learn to play guitar?"

"My friend Donnie taught me most of what I know. Everything else I got off of YouTube."

"Wicked! Maybe you can be my opening act for my next gig."

"I'd like that." He stated, before realizing Lincoln was in the room. "Oh! Hey Lincoln. What's up?"

"Hey Kevin. Sorry that I slept in. But now I can show you around the city, if you want..."

"Sure. Been itching to get out and explore." He stood up and handed the guitar to Luna. "Thanks again for letting me play love. Jam session later?"

"You bet your arse!" She grinned, before grabbing the small amp and walking up the stairs.

"Ok, lead the way." With that, the two exited the house and walked down the street, neither paying attention to the figure that stood in the shadows of the side of the house.

 **(2 hours later. 12;15 pm)**

"Our next stop is the Royal Woods Bowling Alley." Lincoln stated as he and Kevin stopped in front of said building. The bowling alley was big, especially since it was only one story. The alley had 40 lanes in total, 20 on each side of the large interior. The outside was painted yellow and green.

"Sweet. Maybe I'll stop by tonight and practice. Can't have myself getting rusty, now can I?" He asked, rotating his right arm.

"Rusty? For what?"

"Oh, well I was on the bowling team for my school. Oh sorry, 'club'." He fixed, using air quotes while rolling his eyes. "I'm not the greatest, but I'm not exactly trash either. I plan on joining the team, or club, or whatever it's called, when college starts."

"Oh, sweet. Won any..." He trailed, not knowing the term to use.

"Tournaments, and only one. Me and my two friends won the JV State tournament a few months back." He stated proudly.

"Wow. That's awesome."

"Thanks bud." Kevin grinned, and patted Lincoln's back. "Now, where to next?"

"Well, I already showed you the stuff to do. How about the places to eat?"

"That's sounds amazing right about now. I'm _dying_ for something to eat. Pizza preferably." He added.

"You're in luck. We have a few amazing pizza places down here, two of which have every type of pizza imaginable!"

"Even pan?"

"Is it pizza if it _isn't_ pan?" Lincoln questioned jokingly. Kevin laughed, and patted his back.

"Hell no. Pan will always be the best in my opinion. Especially the pan back in Chicago." It took a few seconds, but he frowned at the mention. Which Lincoln noticed.

"You miss Chicago?"

"Fuck no." Kevin replied hastily, before flinching. "Sorry. I miss the stuff to do and the food. Other than that, the place could burn for all I care."

"Really?"

"I don't have many...fond memories of the place, or the people." It was hard to tell this story, no matter how many times he had told it.

"Why? If, you don't mine me asking."

"Well, I guess you could say I was an outcast." He dry chuckled. "Had maybe two friends, one of which wasn't 'all up there' so to speak, not that there's anything wrong with that. Everyone made fun of me for not being able to talk right."

"That's jacked up." Lincoln said sadly.

"That's not even the wrost part. My brothers weren't the greatest of people."

"What do you mean?"

"When they were teens, they did typical teenager things. Partied, caused trouble, pulled pranks. Than there was the non-typical teenager things. They joined gangs, stole, fought people, lied, cheated, went to _jail_ several times! They made everyone within a 10 mile radius hate my family. Than there was me, the last child. Everyone hated me because of them."

"Why? Why would people hate a little kid?" Kevin chuckled dryly again.

"Guilty of association. Everyone saw the damge my brothers did, and they all expected me to be the same. Teachers and neighbors always were watching me, making sure I wasn't up to any good. Hell, some of them planted evidence to get me in trouble." He growled.

"That's awful! Did you tell the principle? The police?"

"The principle was one of the few who liked me. But I had no evidence, and it was the word of several teachers aganist one student, who was related to a few trouble makers. Can you take a guess who the principle sided with?"

"The teachers?"

"Ell yeah, the teachers. As for the police, same with the principle."

"Wow."

"Yup. I was never given a chance, all because of their pasts." Kevin sighed.

Lucy, who had been following them and was now hiding underneath a tree, frowned at the information. She too knew how it felt to be an outcast. You don't see many goth five year olds now do you? But everything else...have mercy on his poor soul.

"But hey, we moved to West Virginia, and I got to start over. Made a lot of friends who didn't care about my past. They knew I was a good kid, and wouldn't let my past rule over how they felt."

"Was it easy? Moving from the city to the country?"

"Not really. The city is big, noisy, full of things to do and places to see. But the town we moved to, well, was the opposite. Smaller, quieter, barely anything to do. But I still loved it. I met a lot of new, interesting people."

"Speaking of interesting people...what do you think of my sisters?" Lincoln asked, causing Kevin to laugh.

"They're definitely an interesting bunch. They all, you included, seem cool. I can't wait to spend time with you lot." He smiled.

"Cool...but lets say, for whatever reason, you had to spend time with only _one_ of them. Who would it?"

"Hmm, well Luna does love music. I bet she could help me write a few raps I have in mind."

Lincoln turned and noticed Lucy standing underneath a tall, shady tree. He shrugged, and could've sworn she frowned.

"But I gotta say, out of all of them, I'd like to spend time with Lucy the most." He answered, shocking said girl. Lincoln just smiled.

"Really?"

"Of course. I have way more in-common with her than any of the others. Plus, she is kind of cute." Kevin answered truthfully. Lincoln turned, and noticed Lucy was hiding behind a closer tree, this time she was more behind it though.

 _'Maybe to hide her blush.'_ He thought with a grin.

"Ok, cool."

"Oh! I hope you're not mad that I said that, with her being your sister and all..."

"Naw, it's no problem. I can tell you'd treat her better than most of the guys here." Lincoln replied. "But crazy question."

"Shoot."

"Do you like her? Like, like her?"

"Hmm, no clue. I'd need to spend some more time with her to see. But I definetly feel something." His stomach rumbled, causing him to blush. "Maybe it was hunger." He nervously chuckled, rubbing the back of his head.

"Yeah, I'm hungry too. One of the pizza places isn't too far from here, if you're interested."

"Lead the way, almighty Lincoln." Kevin joked, causing the two to laugh as they continued walking.

Lucy had stopped following them a few trees ago. She now leanded aganist one, heart pounding even faster than yesterday, and face much, much warmer. Her grip on the umbrella had tightened immensly, to the point she thought it would break. She smiled, feeling all fuzzy inside.

Someone thought she was cute! And not just anyone. _Kevin_ thought she was cute!


End file.
